


(The Upgrade) You're Missing

by wakandan_wardog



Series: Wardog's Tony Stark Bingo 2020 [1]
Category: Ironheart (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AI Tony Stark, Gen, Harley Keener & Peter Parker Friendship, Harley Keener is Tony Stark's Adopted Child, Past Character Death, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Adopted Child, Riri Misses Her Mechanic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:33:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22217851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wakandan_wardog/pseuds/wakandan_wardog
Summary: Riri Williams is having a bad day, and though her AI TONY can't fix it, he can call in reinforcements.Card: 3110Square: N/AAdopted Prompt!Prompt: Riri Williams
Relationships: Harley Keener & Peter Parker & Riri Williams, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Riri Williams
Series: Wardog's Tony Stark Bingo 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1599358
Comments: 18
Kudos: 112
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	(The Upgrade) You're Missing

It sneaks up on her, sometimes, just how much she misses Tony. It’s wonderful to have the AI, to have TONY around. He helps her pilot, helps her work on repairs, chatters at the bots and comments on pop culture or the news. But he can’t sling a companionable arm over her shoulders, and he can’t hug her when she needs it. And on a day like this evidently that’s enough to induce a meltdown. One moment she’s fine, standing at his side as they peer over the Ironheart armor in its state of partial deconstruction, sprawled on the worktable in the midst of repairs. The next she’s sprinting across the room, swallowing tears as she claws at one of the hideaway hatches and throws herself into the dark space.

When she comes back to herself it’s to the cool dark of her surroundings, and over the roaring in her ears, she can hear the worried fluttering of the bots and the AI she left behind.

“Riri. Riri, honey, please,” TONY is muttering softly, the blue light of him frantically flits back and forth across the front of the access panel that marked the entry to her hideout.

She’s backed into one of the bunker-like alcoves Tony built into the workshop walls, a space sunk into the concrete that’s little more than a bolt hole. It’s accessible through what looks like a riveted panel on the wall, a door she’d flung open and left that way when she dove out of sight. Beyond the narrow portal she can see part of the workshop, can see one of the tables and how the bots linger behind it, shooed there by the projection of their creator, the Ironheart suit sprawled before them.

Riri folds her hands over her own upper arms and clenches, gripping herself in an effort to keep from shaking apart. She bites the inside of her cheek against a sob, wishing more than anything that she wasn’t doing this now.

A moment later the workshop is drowned out in a wash of blue light, as TONY appears in front of the hatch and squints as he tries to find her. He can’t, of course, but it’s very reminiscent of the man he’s based on, of the way Tony looks when he’s pretending he doesn’t need reading glasses or he’s trying to decipher the meaning or intention behind a teammate’s actions. The AI is visibly distressed, unable to follow her into the projection blackout zone.

“Sweetheart,” He tries again, hands fluttering like he’s reaching for things and unable to grasp them. “You’re worrying me now. Can you at least tell me you’re alright?”

Riri would if she could, but she’s not really sure she is alright. The tears she’s trying not to choke on are stifling her, fat drops welling up in her eyes and creeping down her cheeks. She’s trying not to make a sound, sucking uneven breaths in that sound like sobs when her lungs demand air.

“Alright, alright,” TONY mutters, and there’s regret in the tone. “I hate to have to do this… But I’m going to have to call in reinforcements, now.”

She’d tell him no if she could, stop him from letting anyone see her like this. But the fact of the matter is, if she could, it wouldn’t be in question. Or, if Tony were here, he wouldn’t need anyone else. But the AI TONY can only do so much, and if she won’t help him out, he has no choice to get someone who will. Someone who can follow her into the dark zone, if necessary, and drag her back out before she hyperventilates. Someone of flesh and blood.

The sound of the door clattering open and the squeak of shoes tells her it’s too late to protest anyway. She wonders what it says about her that she can guess who belongs to the thundering steps, though the list of people TONY would bring to see her in this state is certainly shorter than the Avengers Roster at present. Those two teenage boys sound like a herd of elephants stampeding toward her quiet corner, and wondrously it makes her feel better and not worse.

TONY steps aside and a moment later she’s faced with Peter and Harley, both of them kneeling at the opening and looking in at her with a frantic sort of concern. Peter has a split lip and Harley has a bruised cheek but otherwise, they’re both unharmed from today’s skirmish. The apparent concern in their bronze and blue eyes is identical from one set to the other, and it makes something in her settle if only slightly.

They’re brothers in a strange way, similar with their ruffled hair and their baggy tees and oil-stained jeans. Tony Stark’s protégés, the heirs of his heroic mantle with her, the legacy of his mechanic’s heart in a way that she’ll never match. They’re brothers in arms, and though Tony’s gone he was something of a father to them when he was still with them.

In a way, they’re her brothers too. So when they each reach into the dark, extending pale hands to her, she reaches back with her own dark limbs and smiles through their tears when they connect. She lets them pull her back to the light, lets them gently pull her back to the workshop, and she laughs in spite of herself when they wrap their arms around her in the hug she’s been missing.

Across the workshop, TONY watches ‘his kids’ curl into a tangled mess of limbs. He thinks that his creator would be in the middle of that, if he were here, thinks that must be why TONY himself feels the urge to fold them all into a hug. But he’s a projection of light, and though he can bend around objects it isn’t the same as embracing them.

He has to rely on the boys for that.

“I miss him too, ya know,” Harley mutters into Riri’s shoulder.

Peter hums an agreement, his bony chin digging into the top of her skull. When he speaks, however, it’s directed at Harley. “If you remind us that you had a connection, I’m webbing you to the ceiling.”

Riri snorts a laugh, the sound a wet choke that strengthens to an actual giggle when she sees the look Harley levels on their friendly neighborhood web-head. They’re the perfect mix of comforting and self-involved, distracting her with their banter even as they squish closer.

“Let me get my suit on and we’ll see,” Harley warns, grumbling when it earns him nothing more than an amused look and a poke to the ribs.

“I’m not afraid of you, IronLad.”

“I will squash you, SpiderBrat.”

“Boys,” TONY warns from across the room, sounding more amused than anything. “Don’t think that just because she’s down here for repairs means Ironheart is out of the running. If you insist on bickering, I’m unleashing her to sort you two out.”

“I think that’s probably overkill,” James Barnes murmurs as he stalks into the room.

Riri blinks in surprise, noting the Winter Soldier uncharacteristically dressed down. The jeans he’s wearing are oil-stained and littered with burn marks, the burgundy tee battered to softness and clinging to his muscles and the black plates of his synthetic arm. His hair is longer than the last time she saw him, but he looks less haunted when he shoots a smile her way.

“Don’t beat up the boys,” He makes it sound like a request. “I’m here to tell you guys I just finished two test batches of cookies. Want to help me out?”

Riri recognizes the out and accepts it with a nod, relaxing her hold but tugging the boys along with her toward the door. “Sounds good to me. Come on, Nerds.”

James watches them skitter out the door with a faint smile, then tosses a glance at the AI. “What happened?”

“I think Riri’s just having a bad day,” The AI gave a shrug, an exact replica of the way Tony would treat a subject that meant more to him than he was comfortable voicing. But he drifts closer to the soldier, speaking softly when he drew to a halt just out of reach. “I think she misses… him.”

James clenches his jaw for a moment, nodding. “Understandable… I’ll keep an eye on them.”

“You do that,” TONY hums, his projection beginning to fade out the way he does when there’s no one around to talk to. “I’ll be here.”

“I know you will.” James turns his back before the disappearing act is complete, refusing to watch. “For the record… I miss him too.”

TONY watches the Soldier leave just as quickly as he’d come. “I know you do, Soldier. I know you do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Wow it's been a lifetime since I posted, and I'm sorry. 2019 was the worst, but I'm coming back.  
> I'm sorry it's sad and a bit awkward, I've never written Riri before but I had to give her a try and here we are!


End file.
